ALAN RICHMAN PLANNING SERVICES, INC. P.O. BOX 3613 …

ALAN RICHMAN PLANNING SERVICES, INC. P.O. BOX 3613

ASPEN, COLORADO 81612 970-920-1125

Ms. Maureen Stapleton Aspen Snowmass Sotheby's International Realty 300 Puppy Smith Street, #211 A Aspen, CO 81611

RE: DEVELOPMENT ANALYSIS FOR 611 WEST MAIN STREET, ASPEN CO

Dear Maureen,

You have asked me to provide a development analysis for the property located at 611 West Main Street in Aspen. The legal description of the property is Lots E, F and G, Block 25, City and Townsite of Aspen and its Pitkin County Parcel ID# is 273512448003. The property is owned by Berr LLC.

In completing this analysis, I reviewed the Aspen Land Use Code and the following:

1. Improvement Survey prepared by Aspen Survey Engineers, dated June, 1997.

2. Commitment for Title Insurance issued by Stewart Title, dated March 11, 2013.

3. Building permit file for the property kept in the City of Aspen Building Department.

4. A development analysis of the property I had prepared in 2006 and updated in 2008.

Following are my findings with respect to this property.

Zoning Analysis

The subject property is approximately 9,000 sq. ft. in size. It is zoned Mixed Use (MU). It is improved with a structure that is designated as an Historic Landmark (H). According to the City's Architectural Inventory Form the structure was built as a house in 1886, although more recently it has been used as a medical office building. The property was designated as an Historic Landmark pursuant to Ordinance 34, Series of 1995. It is also located within the Main Street Historic Overlay District. Therefore, all development on the property is subject to review by Aspen's Historic Preservation Commission.

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Sec. 26.710.180 B of the Code lists the permitted uses in the Mixed Use (MU) zone district. This zone district permits a wide range of uses to occur on this property, including residential, commercial and tourist accommodations uses. Following is a list of the permitted uses in this zone district that could reasonably be considered for this property:

TABLE 1 PERMITTED USES IN THE MIXED USE (MU) ZONE DISTRICT

Residential Uses Single Family Residence

Commercial Uses Office Uses

Other Uses Bed and Breakfast

Duplex

Restaurant

Lodge/Timeshare Lodge

Two Detached Single Family Residences

Retail and Neighborhood Commercial Uses

Academic Uses

Multi-family housing (free market and affordable)

Service Uses

Arts Cultural and Civic Uses or Public Uses

Definitions in the City's Land Use Code provide additional detail on what uses are included in the above-listed use categories. For example, service uses includes personal and financial services such as a bank, barber/beauty shop, health and fitness facility, spa and similar uses. Retail and neighborhood commercial uses include bakery/caf?, food market, and stores that sell books, clothing, jewelry, sporting goods, drugs, liquor, hardware, furniture and art.

While all of these uses are permitted in the MU zone district, an applicant proposing to establish new uses on the property should anticipate that a land use application may need to be filed to change the use of the property or to expand the size of the building. Further explanation of the applicable review procedures is provided below in the section describing options for the development of this property.

Table 2, on the following page, summarizes the dimensional requirements of the Mixed Use zone district and provides a basic analysis of how the existing conditions relate to these requirements. This analysis demonstrates that this property has substantial potential for expansion, particularly for a mixed use project, since information provided to me indicates that there is less than 3,000 sq. ft. of floor area on the property today and the allowable floor area for a mixed use project is 9,000 sq. ft. (1:1), increasable to 11,250 sq. ft. (1.25:1) by HPC review. While all of this potential may not be realizable due to the need to comply with HPC design guidelines, some expansion potential clearly exists, most likely in the portion of the property behind the historic structure. Further analysis of this potential is provided below in the section describing development options for this property.

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TABLE 2 MIXED USE (MU) ZONE DISTRICT ANALYSIS FOR 611 W. MAIN STREET

Dimensional Requirement Code Standard:

Existing Conditions/

Mixed Use Zone District Comments

Minimum lot size

3,000 sq. ft.

9,000 sq. ft.

Minimum lot area per dwelling unit

3,000 sq. ft. per single family or duplex dwelling unit ; no density limit for multi-family units

Property is large enough for a lot split or to develop with multiple units

Minimum lot width

30'

90'

Minimum front yard

10'; may be reduced to 5' Approximately 10'; by special review

Minimum rear yard

5'

Greater than 40'

Minimum Side Yard

5'

Greater than 5'

Minimum distance between 10' detached buildings on lot

Not applicable

Maximum height

Single-Fam./Duplex = 25' Commercial/Lodge/Mixed Use = 28'

May be increased from 28' to 32' by Commercial Design Review

Maximum allowable floor area : Residential Uses (see note 1 below)

Single family residence = 2,928 sq. ft. Duplex or two detached residences = 3,264 sq. ft.

Estimated to contain approximately 2,700 sq. ft. of floor area so there is some expansion potential

Maximum allowable floor area : Mixed Use (Commercial Plus Residential Uses)

1:1 (9,000 sq. ft.), which may be increased to 1.25:1 (11,250 sq. ft.) by special review

There is significant expansion potential for a mixed use project on this site

Maximum multi-family unit size

2,000 sq. ft. per unit

May be increased to 2,500 sq. ft. with a TDR

Commercial/residential ratio

Free market residential net livable area cannot be more than 150% of the floor area devoted to commercial or lodge uses on-site

Note 1. Allowable residential floor area is 80% of that for an equivalent-sized lot in the R-6 zone district since there is not an existing dwelling unit on the property.

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Parking requirements for residential and non-residential uses are as follows:

Commercial: Single family/duplex: Multi-family: Hotel/lodge:

1 space per 1,000 sq. ft. of net leasable space. Lesser of 1 space per bedroom or two spaces per unit. 1 space per unit. 0.5 spaces per unit.

Development Options

There are a variety of development options available to this property. The options can be classified as residential and mixed use options. While residential options would likely be the more straightforward to pursue, they are not likely to be the preferred approach given the fact that this property is located along the heavily travelled Main Street corridor. The Code provides more intensive development opportunities to mixed use projects because the City feels such projects are better suited to Main Street than a pure residential project.

A. Residential Development Options

1. Conversion to Residence. Because this property is an historic landmark, an applicant may change the use of the existing structure from commercial to a single-family residence without any affordable housing mitigation being required. Information provided to me indicates that the existing structure contains approximately 2,700 sq. ft. of floor area while the allowable floor area for a single family residence on this lot is 2,928 sq. ft. The actual amount of floor area on the property should be confirmed based on measurements by an architect before this or any other development option is pursued.

If the 2,700 sq. ft. estimate is correct, then there is approximately 225 sq. ft. of floor area available for a single-family expansion. An owner could also add certain types of spaces that do not count as floor area. Sub-grade space generally does not count as floor area. Such areas only count in proportion to the amount of wall area of the sub-grade space that is exposed to view, such as for a light well. In addition, there is not a garage on the property and the first 250 sq. ft. of a garage is exempt from floor area calculations while half of the next 250 sq. ft. is also exempt. So there are opportunities to significantly increase the usable space on the property by adding a basement and a garage.

Any expansion would be subject to review by HPC. The City's historic preservation guidelines would direct the expansion to be designed to make the addition visually distinct from and subordinate to the historic structure. This would most likely lead to a design solution that placed the addition behind the structure, with a connector element (one story in height and at least 10' long) between the historic structure and the addition.

2. Two Residences on a Single Lot. The allowable floor area for two detached residences or a duplex is about 10% greater than the allowable floor area for a single

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family unit (3,264 sq. ft. versus 2,928 sq. ft.). However, establishing a second unit on the property would require the applicant to provide affordable housing mitigation for the second unit in an amount equal to at least 30% of the net livable area of the second free market residence. This housing could be provided on-site or by purchasing a "Certificate of Affordable Housing Credit". These certificates are created by developers who build affordable housing units and then sell the resulting credits on the private market.

3. Lot Split. Because this property is 9,000 sq. ft. in size and the minimum lot size in the MU zone is 3,000 sq. ft., it is eligible for either an Historic Landmark Lot Split or a standard Lot Split. Based on my experience, this property is not a good candidate for either type of lot split because the structure straddles the three lots, making it difficult to establish a buildable area for a second lot. It may be possible to move the structure onsite to create the option for a lot split, but HPC would likely be resistant to allowing such a move given the fact that the landmark now sits in its original location. Therefore, I have not given further consideration to the possibility of a lot split for this property.

4. Other Benefits for Historic Landmarks. Because this property is an historic landmark, the City has established several significant benefits that can be requested. These benefits include the following:

An applicant can receive up to a 500 sq. ft. floor area bonus if the project achieves certain historic preservation goals, such as retaining an historic out-building, restoring a building to its historic appearance, etc.

An applicant can be granted variances from dimensional standards (such as setbacks and the minimum distance between buildings).

Impact fees (school land dedication fees, park dedication fees, storm drainage fees, etc.) can be waived.

The right to build undeveloped floor area may be severed from the subject property and conveyed for use on another property. This conveyance is known as a transfer of development rights (TDR). TDR's may be conveyed in increments of 250 sq. ft., thereby reducing the allowable floor area of the subject property by that amount.

The number of TDR's that can be conveyed from this property would be calculated using the floor area ratio for a single family residence. Since this property appears to have less than 250 sq. ft. of undeveloped floor area, it may not have the potential to sever and convey TDR's. However, if a 500 sq. ft. floor area floor area bonus were awarded to the site that floor area could be converted to TDR's and conveyed from the property. TDR's have sold for in excess of $200,000 each in recent years. Please note that once

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